Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Get ready Charlotte-area Verizon wireless customers: more speed is coming.

Verizon Wireless announced today it is lighting up its 4G LTE network Sunday and Charlotte is one of the initial 38 markets. The network, the company says, will be up to 10 times faster than the current 3G network and will be available to business users first.

Along with the launch, the company will introduce new 4G LTE mobile broadband data plans. They will start at $50 monthly for 5 GB, and there will be one USB modem available at launch.

To get 10 GB data, it will cost $80. Both plans have a $10/GB overage charge. The modem will be $99.99 after a $50 rebate for a two-year agreement.

Verizon officials said, at launch, the 4G LTE network will touch 1/3 of all Americans and will cover its existing 3G network in its entirety in about two years.

So how fast is this? Verizon said customers should expect download speeds of 5 to 12 megabits per second, as fast or faster as many high-speed cable or DSL modem speeds

Of course, you'll want to know about using cell phones on this new network. Looks like you'll have to wait until the middle of next year, so if your contract is up soon, best choose to wait. And this also makes me wonder if all the iPhone to Verizon in January talk will cool now.

Looks like a safe bet that iPhone 5 will take advantage of this network, which will also allow talking and surfing at the same time (something you can't do on Verizon's current 3G network). That makes me think the regular June iPhone launch date might be safe.

Last point on Verizon 4G. It's also launching in 38 metro areas and 60 airports. Click here to see if you're covered.

Verizon wants to charge $99.99 for the USB modem and $50 for only 5GB (which will be eaten up fast if using 4G for video, etc) whereas Sprint has 4G service in nearly 70 markets today, provides a USB modem for FREE as one of 15 devices that support 4G including phones (EVO/EPIC), hotspots, netbooks and embedded laptops. Sprint service is $59.99 but that is for UNLIMITED 4G DATA. Verizon may one day catch up to Sprint in terms of POP covered with 4G but Sprint has them beat in terms of value.

This is B.S. They are bragging about 7 mbps download and 1 mbps upload speeds. Meanwhile, I consistently get over 5 mbps down and 1.2 mbps up with AT&T's local enhanced 3G network. Who in their right mind would pay more for a couple mbps faster speeds? Just good old marketing "smoke and mirrors" at it's best.

There's no use in explaining the average person what's 3G or 4G. WiMax and LTE is pre-4G and with WiMax it's just a slight software upgrade for it to be WiMax 2 which is 4G. Sprint current WiMax devices will still be compatible with the upgrade.

To the person who said who wants a decent voice service, well sorry, soon all the cell phone companies will use VoIP over their 4G in the future when 4G is in full effect.

Thoes complaining about speed, it's all depends on capacity, back haul and spectrum usage. LTE in its currrent form is capable of at least 30 Mbps in real life situation. It's VZW not having the backhaul and enough spectrum to do so.

At Sprint, we welcome Verizon to the 4G market. In N.C., we've offered Sprint 4G to metro Charlotte, the Piedmont Triad and the Triangle since Nov. 2009. In fact, we ran our first 4G trials in NC in 2004 & 2005.

Currently, we sell 11 different 4G devices, including 2 4G phones: the Samsung Epic 4G and HTC EVO 4G, the number 1 and 3 best smart phones according to PC World.

Hey Sprint might have this great 4G technology but your network coverage is terrible. I gave you guys up a long time ago. I don't care how fast your service is, it is more important that I can get cell coverage while in my home office in Matthews. With Sprint I had to go outside my house to get coverage. Verizon has the best coverage.

Check your facts. Verizon spent billions to pruchase the 700 MHz spectrum across the entire United States, so spectrum will not be an issue. Also LTE utilizes fiber to the cell sites, so bandwidth is also not an issue. The average throughput speeds advertised are just that, average expected tput across the entire network. Max speeds will be in the 30 Mbps range depending on proximity of the site and how many users are in the area.

30 Mbps? Ha! Not in real time usage, VZW doesn't have the ideal bandwith to fully utilize LTE so the advertised 7 to 12Mbps will hold true. AT&T and VZW doesn't own enough 20Mhz bandwith within the 700Mhz band to allow 4x MIMO, versus Sprint's 120Mhz bandwidth within the 2.5Ghz band.

About this blog

Langston Wertz Jr. has been an Observer reporter since1988. He has reviewed video games and tech equipment for more than 10 years. Favorite game? Madden football. Favorite geek gear? Anything audio-visual.